poetry corner

my kids had to recite a poem in front of the class and analyze it today. i know that they had help thinking about it, but i'm still very pleased with some of their interpretations about autumn and it's symbology in this poem. ("symbology? i believe the word you were looking for is symbolism..."

happy fall, y'all.

Autumn Season by Flora Elliot
I like the autumn season
When Thanksgiving Day draws near
With air so crisp and biting
And sky so blue and clear.

Wild geese are winging southward
In a slow and graceful vee;
The squirrel at last is resting
In his hollow in the tree.

I always feel Thanksgiving
Is the turning of the key;
One door is shut behind us,
But another opens free.

what does the last stanza mean to you? let's see if you're smarter than a third grader...

attention, rabbit lovers!

that'd be those of you that read this that like rabbits so much you eat like them. i'm even going to share this with some of you that don't necessarily read this. if you're new to my ranting and raving, welcome. disclaimer, i'm not a vegetarian, nor have i ever tried to be. i think this soup is quite tasty; i have made it twice in the last 3 weeks. here's the second incarnation. i preferred this one, she preferred the first. i think a combination of the recipes might make it the best.

first, equipment. sharp knife, oven, cookie sheet, large saucepot, some sort of processor (i use an immersion blender, but a normal blender or food processor would work nicely too).

half of a butternut squash
half of a cooking pumpkin
one box of vegetable stock
4 small potatoes
1 cup half & half
honey
cinnamon, nutmeg, cayenne pepper, various other spices as you wish.

cut the pumpkin and squash in half. remove the seeds and pulp. rub with olive oil and bake for 20-30 minutes. just enough to soften them up. while they're baking, peel and quarter the potatoes. when the gourds are softened up, cut, peel, and cut them into chunks. this takes a while and some serious elbow grease. make sure you have a sharp knife and some patience.

add the vegetable stock and vegetables to the sauce pan. sprinkle cinnamon over the mixture enough to leave a thin film. boil them as if you were making mashed potatoes. when done, process them somehow (here's where my immersion blender came in handy.) blend it all together in the sauce pot, adding the cup of cream. vegan folks, i reckon you could use soy milk?

ladle into bowls with a teaspoon (or so) of honey. a little cayenne pepper really makes it great.

the previous recipe, i didn't use a pumpkin. i used a few sweet potatoes and the whole butternut squash instead. the regular potatoes gave it a better texture in my humble opinion, but she said the sweet potatoes made it sweeter (and thus better). you be the judge.

enjoy.

pretty fly

"fly. that's the only way that i can describe those shoes, benjames." thanks, margarita. that's the only way i can describe my exhausting weekend of catching up with climbers old and new. wish the weekend and the climbing wasn't so abbreviated.

pretty fly morning of climbing. warmed up on a nemesis. prettiest 20 foot boulder line in the field. The Heretic. three years in the making, it finally went down. followed soon thereafter by Honzo Blade. and thus began my assault on tiny, tiny holds. i closed out the morning, sending the hardest problem i've ever climbed. The Unforgiven. credit card-thickness crimp near the top. V7. maybe i'll turn into a V8 climber after all. ten months progression between grades. as long as i stay healthy, that is.

following a lunchtime snack, i worked hard the rest of the day. no sends, but good progress made on some wicked cool lines. if the weather's nice next year, i might even get a few more of them. i guess when you shoot for the stars, invariably, you'll miss more often than not. i think in the competitive atmosphere, a little sandbagging is needed to actually get those 10 climbs in before the end of the day. there's no way i can crank at my limit for an entire day. that's alright though. pictures to follow when i get them.

fly friends around, new ones by association. dinner at black cat, good beer afterwards. yelled at by the campground folks for being up too late and having too much fun. next morning brought too much dew and slow moving friends. great southern breakfast, pack up and hit the blacktop.

long drive there and back. more fun on the twisties in the daylight, golden rays of sunlight trickling through the almost-changing fall leaves. hairpin turns aren't quite as hair-raising without fog and deer around each one. handled more adeptly by my new whip, but still far short of the two-seat roadster i secretly wish i could whip around those curves in. better yet, the bike i know i'll never hop on.

silver lining

in mourning last night, amidst big ten faithful, i got a dig on a buckeye without even trying.

waiting in line for the bathroom when i first got there, a buckeye turns to me and asks, "what's the deal with the 'thank you' and 'you're welcome'? is it a penn state thing?"

it took me a second to realize that he was asking me not because i was at the penn state bar, but because i was wearing a penn state hat. i had no idea what he was talking about, this being my initial encounter with the happy valley crew.

as i corrected his incorrect assessment of my allegiance, his face fell, "i have no idea. i'm a gator."

priceless.

norm!

last night was the first time that i felt somewhat at home when i went out in d.c. in case you missed it, the Gators played the hurricanes last night. if yesterday's weather was any indication of how the game would play out, hanna was all bluster and no substance. clear skies by gametime, there was actually a little fall feel by dusk. that calm after the storm that is my favorite thing about big ol' tropical rain makers.

anyhow, when i walked into the bar, i'd made two new gator friends from the metro. lo and behold, i run into an ex-delt. this guy i genuinely thought well of, until he kept doing dumb stuff and got himself kicked out. so, i'm standing there, drinking pitchers with him when jedd shows up. round about the second quarter, the boss and her entourage showed up. i run downstairs to the head, run into another dc delt, and a stranger approaches me. she knows a few of my friends, and we'd actually crashed on the same square of carpet down in chattanooga in december whilst on a climbing trip. lee's accommodations are so lush! by the time the game was over, i felt like i actually knew a few people in this town. granted, most of them were friends from elsewhere, but what else would i expect when i go to watch the game with gator alumni?!

giddy

woke up this morning, looked out my window. SNOW!

not really, in my delirium and my watery, waking up eyes, i thought i saw a dusting on one of the cars in the parking lot. by the time i got my camera out and ran out to my balcony, the mirage was gone. maybe my mind just wanted to see snow...

in any event, this is the view i've been waking up to. today, the skies are a little grayer, but the leaves are just as colorful.

autumnal bliss

gray dreary skies. bright cheerful leaves. sure takes the edge off of a drive to work! guess which one i paid more attention to...

i need to get some pictures to share with y'all. this cold keeps up, the leaves are going to be on the ground before too long.